Divyded

Making successful hard rock or metal music today is basically about three things:
1) Music with a hook
2) Lyrics fans can feel and relate to
3) Kick your ass guitar play.

Maximum Ink was lucky enough to come across a local band that literally matched up to all of the aforementioned, even though they tell us they’ve only been together since early 2010. If you haven’t heard of them, plan on hearing their name many times in the near future. Chuck Diesel (Vocals, Guitar), Jason “Das” Radosevich (Drums) and Ryan Trainor (Bass) have formed a force to be reckoned with as Divyded.

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An interview with Divyded

Kittie, Nonpoint, Art of Dying, Taste of Madison and Band Camp. Most bands play for years just dreaming of scoring gigs like these, yet there’s one band who have managed to scale the ranks and land those shows in just a matter of months. The immensely talented metal band Divyded has made a name for themselves by doing what so many other bands fail to do these days: Stay true to themselves. They ignore fads, trends and cookie cutter band clichés. Listening to any one of their songs it’s easy to understand why this band has caught the attention of thousands of hard rock and metal fans. Maximum Ink’s Aaron Manogue spoke with the boys in Divyded: Jason Radosevich, Drums; Chuck Wepfer, lead guitar and vocals;  Ryan Trainor, bass; and Jason Hagberg, guitar.

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Mpire Of Evil

The land down under’s Joe Matera caught up with former Venom and Atomkraft bassist and frontman Tony Dolan to answer questions on post-Venom band Mpire of Evil.

Maximum Ink: Can you give us some background to how MPIRE OF EVIL came to be formed?
Tony Dolan: Well MPIRE of EVIL are myself, Mantas and Antton, all former Venom band mates. Mantas was doing his project called Dryll and needed a drummer to fill in as his had broken his ankle and Antton stepped in to lend a hand. They played a local show and did Venom’s Black Metal and people started saying, ‘what if they got Tony in, what would that be like?’ The boys thought that also and then I got a call. I said yes straight away as I have always enjoyed working with Mantas. He is a great player and so tight…it’s a joy to play with him especially live. As for Antton? Well, I’d never had a drummer that good and I loved his playing on the Resurrection album so it was for me a no brainer, we began to write and here we are. Actually what was bizarre was that after a few months of talking and writing, I got up to Newcastle (I live in London) and we thought we should have a rehearsal/jam to see what would happen. We played about 6 or 7 songs, one new and other Venom songs and it was like we’d been playing them as a band for years.

MI: Tell us about the upcoming EP?
TD: Well the thoughts on an EP were that we wanted to release something pre album so we could start doing shows but that hasn’t happened as it’s taken up all our time. But we will still release the EP and then a month or so later the full album. In true Neat/Venom tradition we have placed 2 tracks on the EP that will not appear on the album release initially and we have recorded another 4 tracks for the EP. The title is ’The Creatures of the Black’ and it features 6 tracks, including 4 covers by bands which influenced us to start playing and wanting to be in our own bands:

MI: The Creatures of the Black – Reptile – Motorhead (Motorhead) – Exciter (Judas Priest) – Hell Ain’t a bad Place to Be (ACDC) and God of Thunder (KiSS).
TD: The EP will appear as a special Vinyl release through Iron Pegasus Records and the CD through Scarlet Records. People will ask why we’d do the covers but we wanted to make a statement that we weren’t attempting to be 21 again and to compete. We are what and who we are full stop. It’s not 1980 anymore but what great decades ,70’s,80’s, and what an influence on Metal/Rock?

MI: You’ve mentioned signing with Scarlett Records and a new album in the works…
TD: Yes, we have signed our deal with Scarlet and are very happy to be with Fil and the team. They will be releasing the EP first then the album which is called, ‘Hell To The Holy’ and it will feature that title track…and around 11 more…some titles include…Hellspawn - The 8th Gate – Wake Up Dead – The Circle Pit – Metal Messiah and others not yet defined.

MI: There is a tour also this summer, any plans for US dates?
TD: Yes right now we are planning the full tour for 2012, festival dates as well as 30 dates in Europe then we want to play the US and South America. We are talking to several booking agents right now. But basically we want to play as much as possible in 2012.

MI: And if so, would Madison, Wisconsin be on the schedule?
TD: It is NOW! If they want us?

MI: Will MPIRE OF EVIL be including any Venom material in the set list?
TD: Well we did speak at length about that and we are not Venom, there is a Venom out there but we all feel there are certain songs we would like to play live and why shouldn’t we? They are ones that Mantas, Myself and or Antton wrote, so yes.

MI: What music do you think kicks ass right now?
TD: Well I am into the underground so there are tonnes of acts, the list is too long. I try to help young or upcoming bands as much as possible, maybe one day I shall do the label thing myself. I am still loving Destruction, who are getting even better with age, Slayer, Rammstein but newer stuff I am really still liking some Black Metal and Death metal acts. Antton is still a huge Pantera guy and as Phil is a friend, he loves Down amongst many many others, as he is a HUGE metal fan as he always has been…and Mantas loves Machinehead, Slipknot, Zakk Wilde, As I Lay Dying…and lots more…

MI: Who is your favorite Porn star and why?
TD: Diamond Jackson hands down, why? Are you kidding me? Amazing body, amazing business mind, amazing woman and an Ebony dream - perfect! Can you hook me up? 

MI: If you could take one food item to Wisconsin, what would it be?
TD: Marmite, just to watch peoples faces when I ask them to try some.

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Doomsday 2011

Anyone who pays any type of attention to music knows it’s becoming harder and harder for quality bands to break into the music scene. With social media becoming ever popular and new ways of sharing music making music distribution easier for bands, there are more new bands now than whiney teenage girls who praise Justin Beiber like he’s the second coming of Jesus (and that’s saying something). So, for all the metal-heads out there, this means you are oversaturated with stumbling, offbeat double bass beats and ear drum bursting shrieks. Luckily, I have a cure for these metal doldrums by way of an event called Doomsday 2011. An annual event started back in 2000 that gives us all hope that there truly is good, high quality, kick your ass music still left out there. Maximum Ink sat down with event creator and coordinator Lawrence Weeks, to discuss the event and hear what sets this event apart from the rest.

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Downspirit

Downspirit was formed when Symphorce/ex Freedom Call guitarist Cede Dupont. With Steffen Lauth (vocals), Cédric “Cede” Dupont (lead guitar), Axel “Aki” Reissmann (rhythm guitar), Sven Rakowitz (bass), Sebastian Dunkel (drums) they combine blues and heavy metal in a way that is only fitting. Coming from Stuttgart/Germany, they recently released their debut album, Point of Origin and are determined to play as much as they possibly can.

Maximum Ink: What is it like there in Germany? How has your upbringing influenced you to pursue the music?
Cede Dupont Germany obviously has a lot of bands, so there’s a lot of competition going on. It’s the same more or less in Switzerland (where I live), but here you just a small amount of bands that really kick ass, cause it’s a much smaller country.

I think Downspirit stand out a little bit in both countries, because it’s almost daily business that people come to us and say that we sound like an American-Rock-influence band, and the production doesn’t sound like “Germany” in my opinion, which is something that we really wanted for the final result on “Point of Origin”

MI: Are you looking forward to bringing Downspirit to your fans in the US?
CD: It’s definitely one of our main goals. I’ve playing in the US before, and I just can hope that we will be able to grow our fan base over there, so that people and promoters want us to play there. I think Downspirit would be the perfect choice for a fun rock n roll tour through the States!

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Drain S.T.H.

Looking for the foolproof way to ruin a perfectly conversation? Drop the phrase “girl band” while talking to the members of Drain (they write the name Drain S.T.H. to specify they’re from Stockholm, not the Butthole Surfers side-project). The Swedish quartet got the break of a lifetime when Type O Negative asked them to be a support act on their recently completed tour, and they took full advantage of the situation, winning over crowds with metallic grind, heavy crunch, and a foreboding presence. As a result, they earned a spot on the second stage on this summer’s Ozz Fest tour. When they settle into a groove, vocalist Maria Sjoholm, guitarist Flavia Canel, Bassist Anna Kjellberg and drummer Martina Axen can channel their energies just as powerfully as any of their testosterone-driven peers, carving their won little niche in a heavy genre dominated by men.

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Dream Theater - Mike Portnoy

MI: Congrats on the massive global success that has greeted BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS: a #1 debut on the Billboard European chart and 12 Top Ten album chart debuts around the world including the U.S.  Can you talk about what this accomplishment means to DREAM THEATER?

MP: It’s incredibly gratifying at this stage of our career. After 10 studio albums and almost 25 years in the business, it’s amazing to see Dream Theater is still growing. The fact that we can achieve such a “commercial” accomplishment on our own artistic terms (without any real “mainstream” exposure) is also a true feat.

An album with four songs over the length of 12 minutes each entering the U.S. Top 10?  Surely this is completely unheard of in these times and speaks volumes of our incredibly dedicated fan base.

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